Saturday, March 20, 2010

GreenWitch

Once again the sacred seasonal wheel reaches one of eight markers, signifying a transition. Today marks the Vernal Equinox, Mean Earraigh, where day and night are balanced as we celebrate Spring and fertility.

Aligned in the spirit of community my friends and fellow bloggers have joined together in a circle with thoughts and impressions of GreenWitch natural perfume. The fragrance has been reated as an offering to Tethys, the Greek aquatic sea goddess. At the bottom of this post please follow the links to each of the blogs participating.

I've chosen this day to officially launch the perfume because of the story which inspired its creation. GreenWitch by Susan Cooper is a book published in 1974 as part of the authors Dark is Rising Series. In the story a group of elder women from a community in Cornwall gather to create an offering, "for greeting summer and charming a good harvest of crop and fish.”1In the story we learn that the gift is to the White Lady, Tethys, who governs and rules the sea. GreenWitch, the character and the perfume, defies genre as it is neither feminine nor masculine. As a gift to Tethys, it's mother, the framework of the effigy is Hazel with Rowan for the head and Hawthorne boughs and blossoms for the body.

Once the large looming figure of the GreenWitch is complete local maidens approach, touch the image and ask for a wish. Only one young maiden makes a selfless wish. As the first light of dawn is seen out on the horizon, the fisherman cast the intention filled mass of bough and blossom down into sea to the White Lady.

Tethys, daughter of Gaia, is one of the Titans in Greek mythology, mother to thousands of daughters called the Oceanids. GreenWitch, beholdent to Tethys and the Wild Magick journeys to the deep to see her mother with a secret.

This story moves my soul each time I read or listen to the audio book, obviously it has struck a resonant chord deep within. I've learned to follow that gong inside in creating art and thus bring you this new fragrance.

GreenWitch as perfume follows the formula of a traditional Chypre where Oakmoss and Labdanum in the base are balanced with Bergamot in the top. Balance is one of the main themes of Mean Earraigh as the light is evenly matched with the dark. As you anoint your self ask for a wish and know that a percentage of the profits from the flacon support GreenPeace. The perfume is available in the quarter ounce flacon pictured in the photos, 1 gram vials and in sample packs here, if it has sold out be patient I will re-list it shortly, no worries.

I wish you happiness.

Please take the journey to the listed blogs where more scented tales await.

I don't know if Sea Chypre is its own official genre yet, but it should be, and this one is the archetype! It is a masterful balance of the Chypre structure combined with the ingredients evocative of the ocean, and the result is pure magic. Bravissima!

The idea of combining sea and chypre is very Aphrodite-like and can't but have me intrigued. It's not often that perfumers utilize sea ingredients as actual components, instead of relying on the sea-spray synthetic accords. For that, a tip of the hat.